Habitual Resolution Failing

Since this is the traditional season for failing New Year’s Eve resolutions, I thought I’d write a few words about this. It should be very simple in theory: Don’t do the thing that harms us or gives unwanted results. Or: do the thing that gives us what we want.

Beginning anything at all is easy, keeping at it is the difficult part. No matter whether it is something entirely new or something you have done earlier. That you once were a nonsmoker doesn’t help you stop smoking.

Aiming too high at first can be a problem, but if you don’t it is easy to be disheartened by how low the realistic goal seems. The reason the goals we set often have to be low is that making the change itself is often the most difficult thing at all.